Top lift.



WITNESSES.

No. 890,434. PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908 4 B. P. MAYO.

TOP LIFT.

'APPLIOA'T ION FILED JAN. 17,1907.

2 sums-sum 1.

I /N\/ENTL7 6 MG Awa 7 WM PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908.

B.- P. MAYO. TOP LIFT. APPLICATION IILEID JAN. 17,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVEN TEFL WITNESSES- UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

BENJAMIN F. MAYO, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF'PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

TOP LIFT.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. MAYO, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salem, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Top Lifts, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to improvements in top lifts for the heels of boots and shoes.

It is the custom in trimming the rear end and sides of a heel upon heel trimming machines, such as are now in common use, to employ the edge of the top lift adjacent the tread face as a guiding surface to engage a cooperating guide or rest forming a part of the trimming machine, Therefore, the trimming cutters do not act u on the narrow portion of the edge of the top ift adjacent to the tread face which engages said guide, the result of which is that thisnarrow portion of the top lift is not trimmed at all. In order to reduce this untrimmed portion to a minimum, it is desirable to employ a guide with as narrow a surface as practicable for engaging the edge of the top lift. For a military heel, or any other style of heel in which the rear end is inclined upwardly and backwardly, it will be understood that it is necessary that the edge of the to lift have as much bevel or inclination as t e heel in order to insure the proper angle or pitch for the finished top lift, since if the edge of the top lift were inclined at a lesser angle or were perpendicular to the tread face it would not be acted upon by the trimming cutters and hence would not be trimmed at all, so that a shoulder would be left at the junction of the top lift and the adjacent lift of the heel blank and the finished heel would not have an edge with a smooth continuous surface, as is desired. For these reasons, manufacturers of top lifts prior to this invention have made all of their top lifts with an edge having the maximum bevel required for any ordinary style of heel, so that the same top lifts might be used for all styles of heels having tread faces of the same size and shape. This practice is not satisfactory because, when the beveled edge of the top lift extends to the tread face, the lift is liable to slip off from the narrow guide of the trimming machine above mentioned, un-

less the operator is careful to press the tread Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 17, 1907.

Patented June 9, 1908.

Serial No. 352,736.

face of the lift constantly against the tread guard with considerable force. It is now also the common practice to compress and condense top lifts separately under great pressure before they are attached to the heel lank or body portion of the heel. In compressing top lifts with bevel edges in the molds or between the dies commonly used for this purpose, a fin or ragged corner is very likely to be formed at the line of junction of the tread face and the edge of the lift. This not only leaves an ill defined corner in the finished heel but also results in an irregular and uneven guiding surface to be used in the heel trimming operation, as above described.

It is the primary object of the present invention to produce a top lift which will avoid the above objections. With this object in view a top lift is provided with an edge comprising in vertical section two portions, that portion adjacent the tread face being substantially straight or perpendicular to the tread face, while the portion adjacent the upper face of the top lift is more or less beveled or inclined. Preferably, this bevel is greatest at the rear end of the heel or lift, diminishing toward the breast of the heel where, if desired, the edge may be approxi mately perpendicular to the face.

This invention is believed to be most useful when embodied in a condensed top lift, such as is illustrated and described in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 781,236, granted January 31, 1905.

In making a top lift embodyingthe present invention, it is convenient to produce an edge of the character just described at the same time that the top lift is compressed and condensed which may be effected, for examle, in a manner similar to that explained in nited States Letters Patent, No. 772,840,

granted October 18, 1904. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention in its broadest aspect, is not limited to a con densed top lift but the more important features of the invention may be embodied in a top lift not substantially com ressed or condensed. As will be hereina ter more fully explained, the molds or dies for compressing the top lift may be so shaped and arranged as to avoid the production of any fin at the corner of the top lift and preferably the narrow straight portion of its edge which serves as a guide, as above described, is compressed,

"condensed and hardened somewhat more dicular portion of the edge of the top than the beveled portion, so that a hard,

straight guiding surface is produced by which the heel may be accurately trimmed whatever the shape desired for it may be.

It may be stated here that the term edge as applied. to a heel or a top lift is employed herein with its usual meaning in the art to which this invention relates, as indicating the surface between the lower or tread surface and the upper surface, while the term corner indicates the line of junction of two of these surfaces and particularly the line of junction of the edge, as just defined, and the tread face.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,- Figure 1 shows in side elevation a top lift embodying the present invention in its preferred form; Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the top lift; Figs. 3 and 4 are views in section, partly diagrammatic and partly broken 7 away, of molds and dies commonly used in producing a top lift, the edge of which is beveled for its entire thickness, the sections being taken upon a line corresponding to rc-wc, Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows the molding parts separated with the top lift in place, and Fig.

4 shows said parts when the top lift is fully compressed; Figs. 5 and 6 are views similar to F lgs. 3 and 4, respectively, showing the moldmg parts employed for producmg the top lift of the present invention, said top lift being shown within the molding parts; Fig. 7 is a plan view, partly in section, of a portion of a heel edge trimming machine in which a guide or rest forming a part of the machine is shown in engagement with the perpetnli 't, said top lift being attached to the heel of a shoe; Fig. 8 is a detail view, greatly 'enlarged, showing the guide or rest of a heel trimming machine in engagement with a top lift, the edge of which is beveled for its entire thickness; and Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 in which the guide or rest is shown in engagement with a top lift of the present invention.

This top lift is indicated generally by the letter A in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, B indicates its upper face, C its tread face, D its breast, E the beveled or inclined portion of its edge, and F the perpendicular portion. As shown in Fig. 2, the inclination of the portion E is greatest at the rear end of the top lift, diminishing gradually toward the breast D.

As previously stated, the improved top lift has a sharp, square corner where the edge meets the tread face. In molding a top lift, the edge of which is beveled throughout its entire thickness, it is customary to use molding parts of the character indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. These parts may be actuated in sub stantially the way indicated in United States Letters Patent, No. 776,787, granted December 6, 1904.

, ferred to.

In Figs. 3 and 4, 2 represents the follower orupper die, 4 the pressure plate or lower die, 6 one of the side dies, extending, when the mold is closed, approximately to the center line of the rear ofthe lift, and 8 the breast plate. As shown in these figures, the edge E of the finished top lift A is beveled for the entire thickness of the lift. This requires that the upper inner surface of the side dies shall be correspondingly beveled. This bevel is commonly made to extend far enough downwardly so as to produce a beveled edge for the full thickness of the thickest top lift to be compressed. When, however, a thinner top lift is to be compressed in the machine, the pressure plate 4, when in coinpressing position, is higher relatively to the other mold parts than for a thicker top lift, the means for accomplishing this effect being indicated in Patent No. 776,787, above re The result of this is that a small crevice or space is left between the side dies and the pressure plate just below the upper surface of the pressure plate, so that a fin G is formed at the corner of the top lift.

In the production of the top lift of the present invention by mold parts such as are represented in Figs. 5 and 6, for example, the bevel given to the side dies, which are indi cated by the numeral 6, extends down from the top of these dies a distance not greater than, and preferably less than, the thickness of the thinnest top lift to be compressed. Thus the upper surface of the ressure plate 4 in all of its adjustments will be below the beveled portion of the side dies so that the formation of a fin at the corner of the top lift as above described will be avoided. The top lift, before compression, is indicated at a, Fig. 5, and after compression at A, Fig. 6. Since the top lift is provided with a beveled edge before compression, it will be evident from a comparison of Figs. 5 and 6 that in order to make the lower portion of the edge of the top lift perpendicular to the tread face it is necessary to compress this portion of the edge somewhat more than the remaining portion. Hence, the portion of the edge of the top lift which serves as a guiding surface during the trimming operation is even harder and smoother than the remainder of the edge of the top lift.

Then a heel of the style indicated is provided with a top lift A which, before trimming, is beveled for its entire thickness, it is more difficult for the operator of the heel trimming machine-to maintain the heel in the proper relation to the trimming cutter.

In Fig. 7, 10 indicates one of the cutting blades of a cutter in place in such a machine, i2 tlhe guide or rest for the top lift, and II the ee I As shown in the enlarged detail, Fig. 8, if the operator presses the heel inwardly toward the axis of rotation of the cutter with considerable force, the edge or point 14 of the rest will form a mark or depression around the top lift, but if he does not press the heel against the edge 14 and the tread face of the heel near its corner against the body of the guide or rest 12, the heel is liable to slip off from the guide since the portion of it which engages the edge of the top lift is commonly not more than 1/32 of an inch in width. The objections just stated are overcome to a considerable extent by the top lift of the present invention.

As indicated in Fig. 9, the perpendicular portion of the improved top lift rests against and fits closely to the shoulder of the guide 12 so that the heel, during the trimming oper ation will be less easily displaced and will not be marred or damaged.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is z- 1. As an article of manufacture, a leather top lift, the rear edge of which comprises a portion adjacent the tread face substantially perpendicular to said face and a second portion at an angle to said face.

2. As an article of manufacture, a top lift, the edge of which at the rear and sides comprises a beveled upper portion and a relatively narrow portion substantially perpendicular to the tread face forming a sharp square corner with said face.

3. As an article of manufacture, a leather top lift, the edge of which comprises a beveled upper portion and a relatively narrow portion adjacent the tread face substantially perpendicular to said face and arranged and shaped to serve as a guide in the trimming of the heel.

4. As an article of manufacture, a top lift, the edge of which at the rear and sides comprises a beveled upper portion, and a relatively narrow portion substantially perpendicular to the tread face, the inclination of the beveled portion being greatest at the rear of the lift and diminishing toward its breast.

5. As an article of manufacture, a top lift, compressed and condensed by great pressure both upon its faces and its edges, the edge at the rear being formed with a portion substantially perpendicular to the tread face and a second portion at an angle thereto.

6. As an article of manufacture, a top lift compressed'and condensed by great pressure both upon its faces and its edges, the edge at the rear and sides adjacent the tread face being compressed to a greater extent than the remaining portion of the edge.

7. As an article of manufacture, a top lift compressed and condensed by great pressure both upon its faces and its edges, the edge at the rear and sides comprising a beveled portion and a straight portion harder than the beveled portion to serve as a guide in the trimming of the heel.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. MAYO.

WVitnesses:

FREDERICK L. EDMANDS, ELIZABETH O. COUPE. 

